As expected, ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today split the morning show ratings competition for the week of Feb. 22, 2021.
Today marked its 79th consecutive week as the top morning show among adults 25-54, drawing an average of 1.04 million demo viewers across the five weekday broadcasts. Today also drew more than 3.4 million average total viewers this past week. Compared to the prior week, NBC’s morning show fell -4% in total viewers but was actually up less than +1% in adults 25-54.
Today has been No. 1 in A25-54 at this point of the season for 6 consecutive years, and has increased its advantage over GMA in the demo by +2% vs. last season.
Speaking of GMA, ABC’s weekday morning show averaged more than 3.5 million total viewers and 882,000 adults 25-54 on average this past week, according to the most up to date data from Nielsen. The 3.5 million total viewer average is more than its NBC and CBS counterparts, but -7% from the prior week. The 882,000 adults 25-54 average is down -9% from what the broadcast average in the demo the prior week (966,000). It’s more than CBS but still less than NBC.
Good Morning America—the most-watched morning show for nine years and counting—continues to increase its advantage over Today in total viewers to its largest in five years—since the 2015-16 season.
CBS This Morning struggled after posting back-to-back solid ratings weeks. The broadcast fell -10% in total viewers (2.7 million) and -16% among adults 25-54 (566,000) vs. the previous week.
After a brief positive run, all three shows shed average total viewers from prior week, and they continue to shed viewers relative to the year-ago week; particularly younger news demos.
Year-over-year, Good Morning America lost nearly a quarter of its A25-54 audience (-24%) and was -10% in total viewers. Today lost -16% of its adults 25-54 audience, and fell -8% in total viewers. Lastly, CTM lost -23% of its adults 25-54 audience, and was -10% in total viewers versus the same week in 2020.
Nielsen Live-plus-same-day numbers for the week of Feb. 22, 2021
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 3,759,000 | 3,538,000 | 2,984,000 |
| • A25-54: | 966,000 | 1,034,000 | 675,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 2/8/21), Previous Week (w/o 2/1/21) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 2/10/20). Most Current: 2020 -2021 Season (9/21/20 – 2/14/21 and Most Current: 2019 -2020 Season (9/23/19 – 2/16/20). “GMA3” year-ago time-slot (“GMA3: Strahan, Sara & Keke”). *Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.